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i didn't talk to any of the cia people involved. what i have heard is that the screenwriter kind of drank the kool-aid and fell in love with his cia sources and are taking their point of view. peter bergen in his book "manhunt" and also in a recent article implies that there was absolutely no link between so-called extreme interrogation and information that led to the courier who ultimately brought them to bin laden. >> for those having seen the film, do you believe it makes the case that torture was essential in killing bin laden? >> can i answer that in a vigorously wishy-washy way? >> i guess you will. >> because i think that kathryn bigelow, if you look at her last film, "the hurt locker," it began with a quote from chris hedges to the effect that war is a drug, an addiction, and kathryn bigelow is kind of an amoral filmmaker. she portrayed a woman who is basically addicted to revenge, who is on a kind of counter jihad. bigelow takes her point of view and shoots the torture scenes in a neutral way. they are ugly, disturbing, and
i didn't talk to any of the cia people involved. what i have heard is that the screenwriter kind of drank the kool-aid and fell in love with his cia sources and are taking their point of view. peter bergen in his book "manhunt" and also in a recent article implies that there was absolutely no link between so-called extreme interrogation and information that led to the courier who ultimately brought them to bin laden. >> for those having seen the film, do you believe it makes the...
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Dec 6, 2012
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pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins me now, along with cnn contributor and former cia officer bob baer and on the phone, fran townsend. barbara, i know you're working to confirm this nbc report. how much would this change the situation? if u.s. military is going to act to prevent assad from gassing his own people, it would seem, if they loaded this stuff into weapons, the time to do it would be at hand. >> well, right now i can tell you, anderson, if this turns out to be true, even if not, the u.s. military, the cia in a full-blown effort to collect every piece of intelligence they can about what is going on with the chemical weapons and develop a targeting strategy if it were to come to that. so, what are we talking about here, anderson? they have to put together targeting options for the president. that involves the latest intelligence. where are the chemical weapons in syria? what would you do to attack them? what kind of u.s. bomber aircraft would you use? do you know precisely where they are? how will you get that bomber aircraft past syrian air defenses? and it's safe to
pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins me now, along with cnn contributor and former cia officer bob baer and on the phone, fran townsend. barbara, i know you're working to confirm this nbc report. how much would this change the situation? if u.s. military is going to act to prevent assad from gassing his own people, it would seem, if they loaded this stuff into weapons, the time to do it would be at hand. >> well, right now i can tell you, anderson, if this turns out to be true, even...
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that was a decision made by the cia, the managers of the cia. i mean, certainly any agency of the u.s. government which has a big success would probably want an accurate portrayal of that success. i think that was why the filmmakers met with this particular woman. as fran points out, there is actually -- there were men involved in this. it isn't just a female agent that did everything. the film suggests that a female agent played an essential role. there's another person that goes by the name of john who has some press attention in the past who was equally important so let's be accurate about this. >> fran, i want to ask you, i want to read a quote to you that was in this "the washington post" piece from a former cia official describing the environment at the agency. this is what the quote says. "the agency is a funny place. very insular. it's like middle schoolers with clearances." i want to get your take on that how does the cia culture play into this controversy surrounding this woman now? >> no question it's a very insular place by its very
that was a decision made by the cia, the managers of the cia. i mean, certainly any agency of the u.s. government which has a big success would probably want an accurate portrayal of that success. i think that was why the filmmakers met with this particular woman. as fran points out, there is actually -- there were men involved in this. it isn't just a female agent that did everything. the film suggests that a female agent played an essential role. there's another person that goes by the name...
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i spoke with cnn contributor, former cia officer bob baer and dr. sanjay gupta. we talked about this last night, but explain again what one warhead filled with sarin could do. >> one of these shells and the standard shell the syrians put this in is a 122 millimeter shell, a standard artillery piece. if they were to drop this into a dense area, into damascus or a suburb of homs, it doesn't matter which town, it will instantly kill 18,000 within the first few minutes. >> from one shell? >> one single shell would immediately kill 18,000 people. you know, this is a liquid. it's dispersed. it sticks on you. you get a few -- a little bit in your system, and you're dead. >> sanjay, what does it do to somebody who comes in contact with it? >> it affects receptors in the brain, and let me preface it by saying it's odorless and tasteless and it's colorless. it's hard to even know, you know, that it's there because of those things. also by touching it as bob was talking about, but also by inhaling it or eating food or drinking water contaminated with it, you can also get po
i spoke with cnn contributor, former cia officer bob baer and dr. sanjay gupta. we talked about this last night, but explain again what one warhead filled with sarin could do. >> one of these shells and the standard shell the syrians put this in is a 122 millimeter shell, a standard artillery piece. if they were to drop this into a dense area, into damascus or a suburb of homs, it doesn't matter which town, it will instantly kill 18,000 within the first few minutes. >> from one...
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so there are some republicans who might challenge him. >> the cia director, too. so i wouldn't necessarily rule that out. >> there is. >> and what about susan rice? >> that is, of course, the big question. my sources say, the president is still very close to her. a huge susan rice fan, as someone said to me. but this source also said the longer she hangs out there the harder it is. of course, last week was not a great week for her. as you recall, she went to the hill to try to asage republican concerns and mf them came out of that lessen thenthusiast. the president is the one who makes these decisions and he's a huge fan of susan rice. >> well, we'll see what he does. >> and don't forget, in the top four cabinet posts, susan rice is a woman. and i think there's a real sense of diversity in that they'dke to see a woman in one of the top four jobs. >> there should be a woman in the top four jobs. >> secretary of state is a woman. so we'll see about that. >> thank you very much. >>> now arrested, we have details of the surprising charges and a shocking past. .4 [ wom
so there are some republicans who might challenge him. >> the cia director, too. so i wouldn't necessarily rule that out. >> there is. >> and what about susan rice? >> that is, of course, the big question. my sources say, the president is still very close to her. a huge susan rice fan, as someone said to me. but this source also said the longer she hangs out there the harder it is. of course, last week was not a great week for her. as you recall, she went to the hill to...
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phillip mudd, a former cia and fbi counterterrorism official, says there's a huge concern over who to trust with chemical weapons. >> when you've got roughly 10% of the opposition in the. >>>s u.s. government is declaring are terrorist group you're going to be concerned. in any case like this, there's a lot of risk. >> reporter: but mudd says it's still better to train the rebels on how to handle those materials than to do nothing. and leonard specter says the u.s. and its allies are likely screening the individuals who are being trained very carefully, wofrl, at least that's the hope. >> despite all that, there's still a potential for these chemical weapons getting into the wrong hands. despite what the u.s. is trying to do. >> reporter: phillip mudd says if the syrian regime loses control of these weapons, that's a huge worry. if they fall into the hands of others who are not trusted by the u.s. or its allies they could float around the border to iraq or other potentially dangerous places where they don't have control over these things. if assad loses control of these things anytime
phillip mudd, a former cia and fbi counterterrorism official, says there's a huge concern over who to trust with chemical weapons. >> when you've got roughly 10% of the opposition in the. >>>s u.s. government is declaring are terrorist group you're going to be concerned. in any case like this, there's a lot of risk. >> reporter: but mudd says it's still better to train the rebels on how to handle those materials than to do nothing. and leonard specter says the u.s. and its...
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cnn national security contributor fran townsend, a member of the external advisory committees to the cia and department of homeland security. general marks, let me start with you. what are the military options at this stage right now? realistically, what could the use, nato, the international community militarily do if there is an indication that the syrian military's about to use chemical weapons against its own people. >> wolf, that's the key point. in advance of its use what can the u.s. do? and it's clearly having a very robust, very broad intelligence collection apparatus that takes into account all means of collection, technical as well as human intelligence. there are known sites where the chemical weapons are stockpiled, where the production sites are. then there has to be an act to marry those up with the distribution or delivery means. >> a missile. >> a missile, artillery shell, put into a bomb then uploaded under the wings of an aircraft. all those are indicators of what might occur. intelligence has to be very, very robust in order to go after that. then, if it is such that
cnn national security contributor fran townsend, a member of the external advisory committees to the cia and department of homeland security. general marks, let me start with you. what are the military options at this stage right now? realistically, what could the use, nato, the international community militarily do if there is an indication that the syrian military's about to use chemical weapons against its own people. >> wolf, that's the key point. in advance of its use what can the...
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>> well, the filmmakers got extensive access to the cia for this. after the mission, after the bin laden raid was a success, the agency was inundated with requests and they really put their backing behind this project. and there is internal e-mails that have come out to show how enthusiastic they were in providing access to the filmmakers who got to talk to this maya character, they got to talk to the head of the counterterrorism center, they got to tour facilities at the agency including the vault where they -- where the bin laden raid was planned and even to see the agency's mock-up of the compound in pakistan where bin laden was found. so it was really unprecedented access for hollywood and that's what accounts for the authenticity here. >> "zero dark thirty," military terminology for half past midnight. greg miller from "the washington post," thank you so much. >> thank you. >>> the fear of the fiscal cliff and its effect on real people. >> we're not trying to live off the system. we're trying to survive. it is not a luxury to be on unemployment
>> well, the filmmakers got extensive access to the cia for this. after the mission, after the bin laden raid was a success, the agency was inundated with requests and they really put their backing behind this project. and there is internal e-mails that have come out to show how enthusiastic they were in providing access to the filmmakers who got to talk to this maya character, they got to talk to the head of the counterterrorism center, they got to tour facilities at the agency including...
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Dec 13, 2012
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and then there's a question of cia. the big question is whether john brennan, currently the director of homeland security want that job. it's his if he wants it. the question is, does he? otherwise director morell could get it. the president could perhaps make all of these announcements next week. >> stand by just for a moment. jill dougherty is our state correspondent. it looks potentially like john kerry could be the man that you'll be covering in the weeks and months to come, john kerry, chairman of the foreign relations committee, democratic presidential nominee back in 2004. what are you hearing? >> well, obviously now that susan rice is out of the picture, it would be very logical to turn to him. he is well known for international affairs. every type of issue he seems to have a statement ready within seconds. he's a heavyweight. he knows all of the issues. he wouldn't have the difficulty, it would appear, in the senate for being confirmed with that post as susan rice would have. and it also clears the way now for
and then there's a question of cia. the big question is whether john brennan, currently the director of homeland security want that job. it's his if he wants it. the question is, does he? otherwise director morell could get it. the president could perhaps make all of these announcements next week. >> stand by just for a moment. jill dougherty is our state correspondent. it looks potentially like john kerry could be the man that you'll be covering in the weeks and months to come, john...
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"outfront" tonight, fran town send who is on the cia and homeland security external advisory board and nolan. what do we think is going on right now? at what point are they in this process? >> so the assad regime has hundreds of metric tons of the building blocks of sarin. basically two big building blocks. there's isoproponol and phosphorous compounds. those are kept separately in order to keep things safe. but the assad regime in small, limited quantities appears to have combined those two chemicals to make deadly sarin nerve agent and has loaded them on to aerial bombs. >> if that is true, fran, it's a very provocative thing, is it provocative enough that the u.s. now has to consider action? >> well, you know, the administration has not made it clear. what the president has said is that the use of such weapons would be a red line for the united states and her allies. but it's not clear, short of use, is this preparation is the mixing of the precursor chemicals enough. as noah can tell you this is a very unstable substance, sarin gas. once it's mixed it can be very corrosive. it's no
"outfront" tonight, fran town send who is on the cia and homeland security external advisory board and nolan. what do we think is going on right now? at what point are they in this process? >> so the assad regime has hundreds of metric tons of the building blocks of sarin. basically two big building blocks. there's isoproponol and phosphorous compounds. those are kept separately in order to keep things safe. but the assad regime in small, limited quantities appears to have...
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. >> my understanding is that the hollywood people got access to cia operatives, to cia locations, that they had access to the navy s.e.a.l.s which they should not have had. i can't really go beyond that over to say the investigation has gone on an expanded. >> ahead, we're going to talk a little bit about this movie and whether or not that's the case. you know, i wonder if national security was really compromised. >> it's been a consistent conversation. not just about this movie, right? we've had it several times. is there information coming from the administration that constantly seems to be in a positive light and does that information go beyond and risk national security issues? i think it's a legitimate debate. >> okay. fine, what is it then? like what? we keep saying it's possible, possible national security. like what? >> we've covered it extensively. >> like what? >> the kill list, we've talked about the details of the operation to kill anwar al awlaki, the cyber attack on iran, whenever it's positive we get to hear a lot about it. >> the kill list was reported during the admini
. >> my understanding is that the hollywood people got access to cia operatives, to cia locations, that they had access to the navy s.e.a.l.s which they should not have had. i can't really go beyond that over to say the investigation has gone on an expanded. >> ahead, we're going to talk a little bit about this movie and whether or not that's the case. you know, i wonder if national security was really compromised. >> it's been a consistent conversation. not just about this...